Laura Ingraham: 'Romney's losing'

By ALEXANDER BURNS

08/10/2012 02:15 PM EDT

A tough, tough riff on the Romney campaign from Laura Ingraham on her show today:

I might be the skunk at the picnic but I’m going to say it. I’m going to say it clear. Romney’s losing. I don’t like to start a Friday show with this, but I feel like I must. I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but I know one thing: conservatism wins. When you are debating the other side on substance, when you are attacking with substance, when you are laying out a vision with passion, that marries conservative ideals to the problems of the day, you will win.

[At this point, Ingraham played a recording of Romney saying: “I disagree.”]

When you see this happening in places like Wisconsin, when you see this happening in places like New Jersey, of course in Virginia, where we have governors that advocate conservative solutions to economic problems, they win.

If the election were held today, Mitt Romney would lose. This is especially vexing when we have survey after survey showing that two-thirds of Americans think the country is going in the wrong direction. This is especially disconcerting when you see the numbers that came out yesterday on the voters’ confidence in America’s future: an overwhelming majority of Americans think America now is in decline and that their children’s future will not be as bright as their own. Forty-two months straight of over 8 percent unemployment.

Each of these statistics on their own, on its own, should indicate a sizable win for a strong conservative. Mitt Romney cannot at this point be convincing himself that he’s winning. I hope they’re not. I hope the Romney campaign actually knows what’s going on with these numbers. And I hope that the strategy that has been in place, which is basically raise a lot of money in the summer, but not hit back, but not offer a clear, substantive, three-point solution to this mess that we’re in — five-point solution — lay it out for the public. I don’t care if he has to go back to the PowerPoints that he used in the road shows when he was at Bain. That’s what he’s really good at.

[At this point, Ingraham played a recording of Romney saying: “What we’re left with is a bit of a muddle.”]